Return to Nothing
by AliveinChrist
Summary: A woman from an alternate reality of Hyrule is kidnapped and stranded in Link's world, and he is her only key to returning home. (Rated PG for mild violence) Please review! But for you flamers, I have a neon green squirt gun and I'm not afraid to use it!
1. Ruin

            The sky was shrouded in black clouds, billowing towards the end of the horizon, where fires could be seen licking towards the black maw of the unforeseen night. The land beneath the unforgiving sky lay barren, the hard earth devoid of life. Towers which once stood high in majesty lay in crumbled masses, their banners hanging torn over the dust covered rubble. A biting wind blew through the ruins, creating a hollow melody like a funeral dirge to the dead.

            A lone young woman stumbled through the crumpled heaps of pillaged buildings, long strands of dusty blonde hair spiraling in curls from the hood of her cloak. Every so often a cough would escape her lips, a raspy sound that cut through the blackened night like a sharpened blade. She pulled her cloak closer around her as she walked around mounds of dead bodies, people she once knew. She stopped once in a while to look more closely at them, hoping in futility that someone was still alive, and that she was not alone. She shuddered as she glanced at them to see the light from the fires reflected in their cold, lifeless eyes.

            She made her way silently through the ruins until she came to the edge of what had once been a thriving castle town. Her eyes stung from the smoke, and every breath was a struggle. She looked up at the sky to see the black clouds spiraling above her, the moon nowhere to be seen through the thickness of the approaching storm. Small droplets of rain began to fall, as if in a meager attempt to quench the fires. They splattered around the woman on the ground, making wet marks on the dusty cobblestones.

            She began to cry, hot, silent tears streaming down her cheeks to mix with the cold drops of rain falling on her face. She reached a trembling hand up to wipe them away. _Crying will bring you no gain, she thought to herself. She forced her tired feet to walk a little farther; she wanted to get as far away from the town as possible. Maybe there were untouched villages in the surrounding countryside that had escaped the onslaught. She trudged on, ignoring the pounding in her head and the flaring pain in her muscles. Her boots scuffed through the ash covering the broken road, and her black tunic and cloak were coated in a thin layer of gray dust._

            She continued on until she was out in a field, a little ways from the town. She stopped to lean on a crumbling wall that was built under a tall pine tree, its branches creaking in the wind. No other sound could be heard, save for the rasp of the woman's labored breath. She steadied herself against the wall and turned to look back at the town. It was a sight of pure destruction, with smoke billowing up from behind the gates. The glow of countless fires could be seen flickering in the haze, the town walls awash in orange light.

            She bit her lip, fighting back the urge to run from the horrendous vision. She had to face the terrible reality of it, no matter how hard it was to swallow. She couldn't help but wonder if she could have done something to stop this somehow. _You were born of the line of heroes, yet you could not save your people from this slaughter. And where will you go now? She frowned as these thoughts raced through her mind. It was ridiculous to believe that she could have prevented this. The only thing she could do now was journey away from her past and search for hope in this dark, but once beautiful world. _

            She tore her eyes away from the image of the town. She looked down at herself, seeing her bedraggled state. It was hard to ignore her thoughts of revenge. And it seemed almost necessary to extract some form of vengeance. She shook her head in remorse. Better to forget these dreams, for now the only thing she could attempt was survival. And survive she would.

            She released her grip on the wall and stumbled along once again, willing herself to ignore the pangs of guilt and sorrow. She scrambled slowly up a hill, only to see the town ranch aflame on the other side. Fires roared from the stables, and the frantic whinnies of horses could be heard from inside the high walls. The woman stood for a moment, stunned more than fearful.

            Suddenly, she dashed across the field, calling upon all her remaining strength to make it into the ranch and through the collapsing buildings inside. She picked her way through fallen beams to find herself in the center of the ranch, where the horses were running in fright inside the fence. She ran to the gate and threw herself into a round-house kick at it to force it open, its hinges stuck from the layers of falling ash. She then rushed inside the enclosure and chased the horses out, slapping their flanks to scare them into fleeing the ruin faster.

            The horses scattered and then galloped in a herd through the ranch entrance, narrowly escaping a beam from the ranch house that came crashing down behind them. The woman made a dash towards the entrance herself, only to skid to a halt to avoid being crushed by the falling beam. She would have to find another way out of the ranch. She dragged herself up off of the ground, ignoring the screaming protests of her sore leg muscles.

            She ran back to the inner enclosure, and searched her surroundings for another escape route. Her gaze fell upon the western side of the outer fence. She stood still for a second, calculating the distance. She then sprung forward in a swift run, launching herself in a high leap over the fence.

            She fell through the air outside the ranch, realizing too late that the landscape dipped on this side of the field. She landed on her feet momentarily, only to be sent tumbling sideways down the hill and across a dirt path. Her body finally slid to a halt, and she could feel the bruises forming already. After lying in shock for a few moments, she finally lifted her head, to look straight into the eyes of a man.

            She inhaled sharply, pushing herself off of the ground, only to fall backwards onto the hard dirt of the path. The man, cloaked in black, came nearer, reaching out a hand to her. She hesitated, fearing the stranger was an enemy. But before she could decide whether to accept his assistance, the man curled his hand into a fist and hit her on the side of the head. Her vision clouded, and the last thing she saw before she fell unconscious was the man and a brilliant flash of light that erupted from him his hand and engulfed her.


	2. Awakenings

Chapter 2: Awakening

The woman opened her eyes a fraction, squinting against the white light enveloping her. She blinked and opened her eyes all the way, after having adjusted to the harsh and empty glow all around. She tilted her head to gaze at what was up above her, but all she could make out was a small round hole, almost like a window, far above her, which the white light seemed to be emanating from. 

She tried to move her arms, only to find that she could not move. Her wrists and ankles were bound together with bands of light that she could not stretch. She looked around again, realizing that she was also floating in mid-air, suspended in this pool of light. _What am I doing here? It's all so…vague…and the aching in my head…_ The woman let herself hang limp, deciding to try and sleep in this captivity, with the hope of relieving the pounding in her head. 

A few moments into her meditation, the sound of footsteps approaching suddenly reached her ears. She jerked her head up, searching around to see if the person was near to her. The footsteps came closer and closer, then halted abruptly. The woman held her breath, and the room was silent. In an instant the light around her faded to a dim glow close around her body, allowing her to see the actual room enclosing her. 

The room was hexagonal, smooth stone walls stretching high above her head to meet at a lofty peak. The dim grayness of a clouded early morning seeped through massive windows set high in the cold architecture. Below her lay a stone platform, shaped also as a hexagon, with an emblem etched in each corner. _I see…six symbols here…one looks like…a flame…another…of water…and…what do they mean? The symbols looked very familiar to her, but her attempts to recall the meaning of them were useless; her thoughts were too tangled to remember anything at all of how she had ended up in this place, or who her kidnapper was. Before she could contemplate her situation any further, a dark figure stepped out of the large dim corridor in front of her. She froze as it stepped out of the dark shadows and came into the light, the mysterious figure revealing itself as a man. _

He was tall and thin but athletically built, wrapped in a loose black tunic. A black leather belt around his waste displayed rubies, which surrounded a golden symbol of three triangles. His pants were black, and he had high leather boots almost to his knees. The man's hair was yellowish-blonde, pushed back inside of a long black cap. He was a very handsome young man. A sword was sheathed in a black scabbard at his side, the silver hilt inlaid with rubies and diamonds. The same set of three triangles was etched in white gold on the pummel of the hilt. She stared at him, confusion crossing her face.

 _He looks like someone I've met before…but I can't place it…_He stared back at her, and a warm smile slowly crossed his face. He walked slowly towards her, coming so close that she could feel his breath on her face. With a gentle hand he held her chin. "Hello, Lehrea." _Lehrea…that name…it is mine…_ In an instant the warm smile vanished from his face. His appearance shimmered, and the comforting young man transformed into a dark and menacing man with flaming red hair and tan skin. Lehrea's thoughts screamed inside her head. _I remember…Ganondorf…the dark lord…_


End file.
